News & Analysis from Turkey

“Rocking Imam” fails to draw applause from Turkey’s religion watchdog

Turkey’s religious watchdog has launched an investigation against an imam for singing in a rock band in his free time. Ahmet Muhsin Tuzer, 42, is imam and muezzin of the mosque in Pinarkoy, a small village of about 80 people in the southern Turkish province of Antalya. After the last prayer of the day, he hits the stage as a singer in a rock band. The first concert of the band, Firock, in the town of Kas near Pinarkoy drew around a thousand people last month. Alerted by media reports about the band and its singer, authorities started an investigation against Mr Tuzer.